Black Caps in sight of win against Sri Lanka

ON TRACK: Doug Bracewell will miss Central Districts' Plunket Shield clash with Wellington but is expected to be fit for the Black Caps tour of South Africa.

Almost a year since their Hobart heroics, Colombo's P Sara Oval beckons as New Zealand's cricketing field of dreams today.

Their final day of test cricket in 2012 offers the gilt-edged opportunity to blur some awful memories of five-test losing streaks, collapses and calamities on the road, the latest as recently as last week in Galle.

At stumps on a rollicking fourth day of the second test, New Zealand were poised to claim their first test victory abroad since last December in Hobart.